Spick and Span: Cleaning from your Kitchen!

Ok, take a deep breath in…… and out….. and in again…. and out….. can you feel it? A little fresh air? A lighter feeling around your home? The warmth of the sun on your back sitting in your favourite chair? Yes sweet friends, spring is well on its way and I couldn’t be happier. Except that means… I need to start my spring cleaning.

It’s still a little cool yet to open all of my windows wide and let the fresh air fill the house, so in the meantime I clean with beautiful smelling products, and the best part? They are homemade.

We have a beautiful Boston Terrier named Diesel. He’s going to be 9 years old in September. Him, paired with the kids (especially a baby), really makes me want to keep all of our cleaners natural. I don’t like the idea of harsh chemicals used on a daily basis to wipe up counters, or to clean out the microwave.

So after a quick trip to the dollar store to pick up some supplies, along with a shop around the house and the grocery store I had everything I needed to make two perfect household cleaners.

All-Purpose Cleaner

I use this pretty much every day – that’s why I made three bottles! I keep one under my kitchen sink, one in my main floor cleaning caddy, and one in my upstairs cleaning caddy. Yes, I have three caddies… I feel like if cleaning tools are at my finger tips, I’m more likely to make the ‘quick effort’ to clean something up properly the first time.

Each I made with different essential oils mostly for the scent, but each does have great cleaning ability!

What you Need:

• Spray Bottle
• Liquid Castile Soap (optional, but I think it adds a little extra kick)
• lemon or lime juice
• distilled water or boiled water, cooled
• vinegar
• essential oils (I used lime, wild orange and lavender).

For a single batch, in the spray bottle add:

• 2cups distilled water
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp liquid castile soap
• 10 drops of wild orange essential oil (or a scent you like)

When I use this cleaner, I always give it a quick shake before spraying it, and it does an epic job of cleaning up.

Disinfectant

I made two bottles of this, and keep it in my bathrooms. That way after my oh so sweet, darling, little angels finish brushing their teeth (with red toothpaste on a white sink I might add), I can go in and wipe up the sink, faucet and give the bathroom a quick wipe down.

For this you need:

• Spray Bottles
• Vinegar
• Vodka (yes, vodka! Had excellent germ cleaning abilities)
• Distilled water or boiled water cooled
• lemon and lavender essential oil

For a single batch, in the spray bottle add:

• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1 1/2 cup distilled water
• 10 drops of lemon essential oil
• 10 drops of lavender essential oil

This really does work wonders! Spray on the desired surface, leave for about 5 minutes or so, and wipe with a clean cloth.

I like that with the all-purpose cleaner my kids can (and do from time to time) help me clean. I use it on my kitchen counters, dining room table, and through out my home to dust. It leaves no residue and really is a great cleaner to keep on hand.

What happens when you run out? Take ten minutes and make a new batch! Simple!

Now that spring is in the air, I’ve got some deep cleaning on the mind, you know the stuff that doesn’t happen day to day or on a weekly cleaning schedule? To help kick start, I took a good hard look at my microwave and shook my head…

What happened after? Come back tomorrow and I will share!